Ricky's European Booking
|season = 5 |number = 10 |overall = 137 |airdate = December 12, 1955 |production = 5-10 / 137 |imdb = tt0609325 |writer = Bob Carroll Jr. Madelyn Pugh Bob Schiller Bob Weiskopf |director = James V. Kern |previous = "Nursery School" |next = "The Passports" |image = |imagewidth = 300px}} http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/UnfairRicky.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/PhonyRaffle.jpg Ricky's European Booking was the 137th overall episode of I Love Lucy, also the 10th episode of season 5 of the series. The episode, was directed by James V. Kern, originally aired on CBS-TV on December 12, 1955. Synopsis Ricky's band gets booked in Europe, and the girls can only go if they can come up with enough money to pay their own way. Barney Phillips guest stars. Plot summary Ricky announces that he and his band have an upcoming gig in Europe, and Fred is going along as Ricky's band manager. But sadly, Ricky can't afford to bring along Lucy and Ethel. So, the women try to raise the money themselves. They end up making what they think is a phony charity called The Ladies' Overseas Aid, and raise money by raffling off a TV set. Lucy gets questioned about the charity by a detective, who tells her that making up a fake charity/organization to raise money is fraud and a criminal offense. Luckily, Ladies' Overseas Aid really does exist, so Lucy and Ethel have to give up their Europe money to the head of the charity. But all ends well. Ricky finds out that his band will ride the boat to Europe for free, earning their fare by playing music. So, Lucy and Ethel can go after all! Trivia *Like they did with Hollywood the previous season, the writers came up with the Europe trip as a way to get the Ricardos and Mertzes out of the apartment and to dig up fresh, new plots. There are only four episodes between the end of the Hollywood trip and the beginning planning of the Europe trip. In fact, Ricky even says in this episode that they just got back from Hollywood a month ago. *Lucy found $9.73 in the chairs and couch, $29.95 in the sugar bowl, and $28.16 in Little Ricky's piggy bank. Ethel found lint and an old Woodrow Wilson button in all of Fred's stuff. *Lucy also found $15.36 via GTHP, which is more commonly known as Going Through Husband's Pants. *Ethel ends up mortgaging the apartment building to raise money for the Europe trip. Fred really must love Ethel if he let the apartment be in HER name! *Hazel Pierce, the name of Lucy's real-life stand-in, is the one who wins the raffle. *Ricky hires Fred as band manager because of how Fred managed his entire vaudeville act by himself. *Dorothea Wolbert is president of the Ladies' Overseas Aid; she lives in Indiana. Starring *Lucille Ball ... as Lucy Ricardo *Desi Arnaz ... as Ricky Ricardo *Vivian Vance ... as Ethel Mertz *William Frawley ... as Fred Mertz Guest starring *Barney Phillips ... as Mr. Jamison *Harry Antrim ... as Mr. Feldman *Dorothea Wolbert ... as Mrs. Dorothea Wolbert, President of the 'Ladies Overseas Aid' *Hazel Pierce ... as Hazel Pierce *The Pied Pipers ... as Themselves *Olan Soule ... as Dr. Gettleman Category:Season 5 Episodes Category:Episodes